Under my Skin is an art project for stigma reduction by the Colombian American Multidisciplinary Artist Emilio Apontesierra-Paretti A.K.A. Apontesierra. The first year of this project was focused on HIV-Stigma reduction among African American and Latinx populations impacted by HIV regardless of gender identity and behaviors in faith communities of the southeast of the Unite States from July 2022 to June 2023. 

The project for HIV Stigma reduction 2022 -2023 was funded by the Gilead COMPASS Initiative® Community Investment Opportunities. The community investments provided by the COMPASS Initiative® focus on addressing barriers to care that many communities in the South experience by increasing organizational capacity, building awareness, reducing HIV-related stigma, advancing education, sharing knowledge, and promoting the wellbeing of individuals through mental health services and trauma-informed care. 

The Faith Coordinating Center of the School of Divinity at Wake Forest University was the organization in charge of assisting and monitoring the progress and supporting the project implementation while High Impacto Inc., was the fiscal Sponsor of Apontesierra. With this project Apontesierra was selected from the four-artists grantee by Gilead to be the Artis in Residence at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Caroline, USA. 

This HIV stigma reduction project created three safe spaces where members of diverse faith communities can integrate regarding God’s name to pray, love, and be the light of life for people with a positive diagnosis of HIV. One space is located at the Episcopalian Church of St Mary Magdalene and St Martin in Coral Spring, FL in the shape of a Sculpture. The second space is located in Wake Forest University, School of Divinity in Winston-Salem, N.C. also as a sculpture, and the third space is the online space called Under My Skin Project Website. 

The project’s outcomes integrate art created by the project audience and the artist. It shows how the diversity of faith communities can blend in harmony to create healing spaces to shift narratives away from stigma towards healing and life-enhancing possibilities for African American individuals, Latinx populations, members of the LGBTQ community, and those impacted by HIV.